AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal will be new neighbor of Congress leader Shashi Tharoor in Lutyens’ Delhi. After the Centre allotted Kejriwal a Type-VII bungalow in the capital, the AAP confirmed that the former Delhi chief minister will stay at the 95, Lodhi Estate accommodation, which was allocated to him after the “Delhi High Court rapped the Centre on the issue”.
“Kejriwal has been allotted an official bungalow by the Centre after it was scolded by the Delhi High Court. He was entitled to a bungalow since he is the convener of a national party,” AAP national media in-charge Anurag Dhanda said. Kejriwal is entitled to a central Government bungalow since he is the chief of a national party.
Previously, AAP had asked the central Government to give him the bungalow at 35, Lodhi Estate, which was used by Mayawati, but that residence was already assigned in July to Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary.
Kejriwal will now have Congress’s Shashi Tharoor as his neighbour, who has bungalow 97 to him. Bungalows 94 and 96 are allocated to Army officials. RJD’s Misa Bharati and Congress’s Priyanka Gandhi don’t live far, they have been allocated bungalows 82 and 81 respectively.
Type-VII bungalows typically include four bedrooms, large lawns, a garage, and three servant quarters and space for office. Approximately 5,000 square feet in size, Kejriwal’s new house has two side lawn and office.
Taking a dig at Kerjiwal, BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor stated that Kejriwal’s obsession with Government bungalows has accelerated the process of his political downfall. “As the Delhi BJP President mentioned, the “Sheeshmahal” bungalow played a major role in Kejriwal’s ousting from power in Delhi. And now, with the allotment of the grand Type 7 bungalow at 95 Lodhi Estate yesterday, his party has begun to crumble in Punjab as well,” he said.
Last month, the Delhi High Court pulled up the Centre for delaying its decision in allotting a residential accommodation to Kejriwal in the national capital.
Kejriwal lived at an accommodation on 6, Flag Staff Road in Civil Lines while he was the chief minister.
The BJP had made it a big election issue in Delhi, calling the house “Sheesh Mahal”, and vowing that its chief minister will not stay there.
After resigning as chief minister, Kejriwal shifted to a Government bungalow allotted to AAP Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Mittal. In 2022, Delhi Government’s vigilance department initiated an inquiry, on the direction of Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, into allegations of “irregularities and cost escalation” in the renovation of the Civil Lines bungalow by the PWD.
Currently, the CBI is probing the matter on the complaint of then Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly, Vijender Gupta, which was filed with Saxena in December 2024.